This Wednesday, Sister Hazel
will be making a stop to jam in
Starkville again at Rick’s Cafe.
Southern-rock band Sister
Hazel will be ready to rock on
Wednesday with special guests
The Benjy Davis Project and
Elley Duhe.
Release, the band’s latest
album, was No. 1 on iTunes and
also received some of the band’s
best reviews yet.
While recording this album,
the band found it important
to follow a democratic process
allowing each member to display
his own vision and vibe
to help the music evolve more
than ever.
Each band member produced
multiple songs to
show their different personalities
and this method
was clearly a success.
Being so laid back and
open to each other’s visions
is the very reason this band
has been together for so
many years.
Despite their accomplishments
in their longtime
music career, they
never seem to lose touch with
how they came to be. Lead
singer Ken Block said this is why
they enjoy playing in college
towns like Starkville.
“Having started out as a college
band, we are always so comfortable
in college towns and
we’ve always felt that college
students connect with music at
that time in their life,” Block
said. “They become attached to
that music for the rest of their
life.”
Starkville is always a tour
stop for them for many reasons,
including the immense support
from Rick Welch, owner
of Rick’s.
“Rick has made it easy for us
to come around and play when
we weren’t riding around in a
big shiny tour bus,” Block said.
“We’re happy to come give our
music to a town like Starkville
and hang out with Rick . and
have some BBQ.”
The band’s first trip to
Starkville was in 1995 and Welch
said he is so happy to have had
them come back so many years.
“I had them back in ’95 and
they were getting big really
quick, [in fact] a week after I
had them here, I heard Kasey
Kasem on the radio announce
their song ‘Happy’ was No. 1
and I almost wrecked,” Welch
said. “I am so proud of what
they’ve done and to have known
them so long and to able to say
that we are friends. They are one
of the few bands that made it
really big and still come back.”
Through many growing pains
as a group, putting their families
first is a large way these musicians
have stayed so grounded
as a group.
“We are a five man democracy,
but we check our egos at
the door and try to stick out
our battles,” Block said. “Even
though we have some strong
personalities, we each have a
great sense of humor and rack
each other constantly.”
This must be the very reason
their fans, aka “hazelnuts,” have
grown to love and support them
above and beyond.
The band is so involved with
its fans they put on an event
called the Hazelnut Hang, a
three-day weekend of music
allowing the fans to connect
with the music, the band and
each other.
“I’ve really loved their music
for years and never miss them
when they come through town,”
said sophomore undeclared
major Cristina Ebberman.
“They never fail to put on an
amazing show and you really
notice they are all about making
sure we have a great time which
is obviously a necessity.”
Welch also said the band loves
performing for its audiences.
“They are the nicest guys
you’ll ever meet,” he said. “I
think the audience can pick up
on that at their shows.”
Charities are also a huge part
of Sister Hazel. The band is
known for being open to using
its musical success to bring as
much attention as possible
to helping others.
Each member’s life has
been affected in some
way by cancer, including
Block, who lost a brother
to the disease.
After the life-changing
experience, Block started
the charity Lyrics for Life
in memory of his younger
brother.
This non-profit charity
has helped greatly in the
fight against cancer and the Web
site, lyricsforlife.org, is incredibly
worthy of a visit.
Despite being on tour, being
so involved in charities and each
member having personal projects,
the band wants everyone to
know they make sure they stay
connected.
The band members are thrilled
with the thousands of fans they
have on their Web site, sisterhazel.com, their MySpace page and
their Facebook page.
They enjoy getting on these
sites regularly to interact and
answer any posted questions.
The show will be a fun time
as usual, and tickets are on
sale now at Rick’s Web site
rickscafe.net.